Regina's new merch line gives tourists a whiff of the Queen City with custom fragrance

Tourism Regina is sniffing around for new ways to promote the city.

The City of Regina has launched a refreshed line of Tourism Regina and "I Love Regina" merchandise, complete with updated designs and even a custom scent.

The new collection from Tourism Regina features a "City Lights" candle and an oil diffuser with a custom-scent developed by local entrepreneur Sara Lindsay.

"Scents are really powerful memory triggers," Johnson said. "So we're hoping that people take this custom sent home and think back fondly on their trip here and then maybe book another trip here."

Smells like city pride

The new scent, available only in-person at city hall, joins the updated apparel and accessories in a full-on branding revival.

Jennifer Johnson, deputy city manager for communications, Service Regina and tourism, said the decision to update merch came naturally.

"The people here are so warm and when you visit Regina you get a real sense of community," she said. "Trying to encapsulate that into a scent is difficult for sure, but I think we did it."

All of the new merchandise is for sale at city hall.

"We've had the I Love Regina merchandise available for sale online, but people like to see pieces before they purchase them," Johnson said.  

"They like to be able to whether it's try it on or just see the texture of the fabric."

A brand that just won't quit

The I Love Regina collection, launched in 2002 by then-mayor Pat Fiacco, has been updated as part of the city's longstanding civic pride campaign.

The redesigned merchandise still sports the "I Love Regina" logo on items such as T-shirts, hats, tote bags and discs.  The newest addition to the gear is Charlie the Chickadee Squishmallow, which celebrates Regina's official bird.

"It's a Squishmallow, which are super popular with kids right now, so we think that's going to be a really top selling item," Johnson said.

Expansion on the way

The city says the proceeds from the merchandise sales will be reinvested into marketing.

"That's our whole purpose as a marketing organization is to drive traffic here. It's good for the economy and we want people to visit the city," Johnson said.

She said the city will be buying stock of the new items in small quantities at first to test out how well they sell.

"We will sell those and then we'll repurchase so that we're kind of constantly offsetting our costs."

This initiative comes after the fallout from Tourism Regina's failed Experience Regina rebrand in 2023, which ultimately led the organization to revert to its original name and slogans.

Johnson also said there are plans to sell the merchandise at places like the airport.

"We're open to feedback from visitors and we think that when people start shopping, we'll actually get more ideas and then we'll be able to expand from there."

She said the one thing that might not see a comeback to city hall is the I Love Regina sign.

"There's been no conversation about that. I do know that it would need to be refurbished."